


a long way from the playground

by SuchASeeweedBrain



Series: Roswell Prompt Advent 2019 [1]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:48:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21646276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuchASeeweedBrain/pseuds/SuchASeeweedBrain
Summary: ‘Oh come on Alex, please?’ Kyle had his hands folded together and he was pouting at Alex.‘No.’ Alex said, for the fifth time. ‘This is a terrible idea.’‘No it’s not. It’s a great idea and you know it.’ Kyle argued, he looked seconds away from stomping his foot. ‘It’s one party, Alex. That’s all I’m asking.’‘You’re asking me to pretend to be your date, for one party.’ That was the glaring difference here. ‘A reunion party with all of these doctors that you’re trying to impress, by bringing me.’
Relationships: Alex Manes/Kyle Valenti
Series: Roswell Prompt Advent 2019 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560502
Comments: 28
Kudos: 129
Collections: Roswell Advent





	a long way from the playground

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lusblim4](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lusblim4/gifts).



> It is finally here! The 17k monster! This is the prompt that got completely out of hand, but I enjoyed every second of it. It's the cliché-est of all the cliché's, but that's why where here, let's be honest.  
> A huge thank you to dear Lubs, who did nothing but encourage me, even when I was considering bailing on this because it was getting so totally out of hand. 
> 
> (and yes the title is from 18 by One Direction, it is a good song and I will not be taking any critisism at this time)  
> (also the first bit is from Alex's POV and then I switch to Kyle, for no apparent reason...)

‘Oh come on Alex, _please_?’ Kyle had his hands folded together and he was _pouting_ at Alex.

‘No.’ Alex said, for the fifth time. ‘This is a terrible idea.’

‘No it’s not. It’s a great idea and you know it.’ Kyle argued, he looked seconds away from stomping his foot. ‘It’s one party, Alex. That’s all I’m asking.’

‘You’re asking me to pretend to be _your_ _date_ , for one party.’ That was the glaring difference here. ‘A reunion party with all of these doctors that you’re trying to impress, by bringing _me_.’

‘You’re a decorated Air Force Captain.’ Kyle said desperately. ‘You’re a war hero, and my best friend. Please, Alex?’ Oh come on, playing the best friend card? ‘I know you don’t want to be in town for the holidays anyways.’ He added, smirk on his face. ‘This thing is in Los Angeles, you won’t have to deal with the aliens, your family, any of the awkwardness with Gu-‘

‘Alright!’ Alex caved. He had kind of known he would from the beginning. He did, in fact, want to be out of Roswell around the holidays. Especially this year.

‘Yes!’ Kyle hissed and he actually did a little dance, right there in the middle of the street.

‘Oh my God, Kyle _stop_.’ Alex said, trying to stay serious, but he could feel his cheeks go hot and the laughter bubbling up from his stomach. He grabbed at Kyle’s arm as Miss Flores from the bookstore looked at them funny. ‘I’m serious, Valenti. Stop.’ Alex tried again as Kyle was now shimmying along the street.

‘You can’t call me Valenti if you’re going to pretend to be my boyfriend.’ Kyle smirked, but he stopped trying to embarrass Alex to death.

‘What am I supposed to call you?’ Alex asked. ‘Babe? Honey? Sweet cheeks?’ Kyle made a face.

‘I guess babe is okay.’

‘Really?’ Alex asked, frowning. ‘No one is going to believe that.’

‘We’ll figure it out.’

‘We need a backstory.’ Alex said. He was determined to treat this like a undercover operation and that required backstopping. ‘How we met, how we got together, all that jazz.’

‘We could just mostly stick to our real history.’ Kyle nodded. ‘Met when we were kids, were best friends for a long time, recently you had a big falling out with your high school sweetheart, we realized we were actually really good for each other and we started dating a month ago.’ He shrugged. ‘We don’t need to make up anything elaborate.’ Alex blinked at Kyle for a second. Kyle seemed to realize Alex was staring at him, because he looked at him with raised eyebrows.

‘Do we mention high school?’ Alex asked, instead of asking if Kyle had been thinking about this a lot. That was ridiculous, Kyle was just looking to make some assholes he’d met in medical school jealous. Kyle made a face.

‘It could be nice for the dramatic effect.’ Alex snorted.

‘I suppose you want me to wear my dress blues?’ He asked. Kyle turned to him with wide eyes, a sharp grin on his face.

‘Are you allowed to wear your dress blues?’

‘Uh, yeah?’

‘Hell fucking yes.’ Kyle seemed to be getting more excited by the minute. ‘You’re gonna look _so_ hot, that dickbag is going to be so jealous.’ Alex chose not to ask about the “hot” comment.

‘When are we leaving?’ Alex asked, he’d need to get some shit together, obviously. He’d probably need to dig his blues out from the back of his closet where he’d stuffed them a few months ago, unwilling to look at them every day. Kyle paused for just long enough that Alex knew it was going to be _soon_.

‘Tomorrow?’ Kyle said with an innocent grin. Alex sighed.

‘How long will we be gone?’

‘Well, they have the option to stay for five days.’ Kyle shrugged. ‘If you only want to stay the one day, that’s fine too.’

‘It’s all paid for by that ridiculously rich asshole, right?’ Alex asked. Kyle nodded with a smirk. ‘Nah, we’ll go for the full five days.’

\--

‘Holy shit.’ Alex said, his nose nearly pressed against the window as he looked out at the estate. ‘This place is fucking massive.’ Kyle smiled, he kind of liked it when Alex cursed, it made Kyle feel like he was comfortable around him.

‘Yep.’ Alex’s eyes were wide as they drove up the long, winding driveway to reach the estate on the side of the hill. It looked about as big as the entire town of Roswell.

It was basically a hotel/resort kind of thing, which Doctor McFuckface also used to organize this. Kyle had never gone to the reunion/ holiday meet-up/ bragging marathon before. But this was a “special one” or whatever and he’d been manipulated into saying yes. When he’d been asked about a plus one, he couldn’t stand the idea of Fuckface’s smug look when Kyle showed up alone, so he’d said he’d bring his significant other. He hadn’t mentioned a gender, keeping his options open. If him and Alex hadn’t reconnected like this, he might have asked Liz, hell with how their friendship had been developing he could have asked Isobel, she would have thrived in this environment. But his first choice had been Alex, and Alex had said yes.

Alex, who had seemed almost panicked, desperate to get out of town before the awkward questions would come. Before Maria would avoid his eyes and ask if he’d come to dinner with her and Mimi, or before Isobel could try to ignore all tension and invite him over for her alien-Christmas spectacular.

He was just giving Alex an out. It wasn’t half an excuse to spend five days with Alex in a luxury hotel/resort thing pretending to be in love. Because that was all he was doing. Pretending.

They were met at the entrance by a man Kyle didn’t recognize, in a suit.

‘Good afternoon, welcome. Your names, please?’

‘Doctor Valenti, Kyle Valenti and my plus one.’ He said, setting a hand on Alex’s lower back. Alex smiled at the man, all warm and disarming and oh god this was going to be torture. Alex turning on the charm was not good for Kyle’s health.

‘Yes I’ve got you.’ The man said, ticking off something on his list. ‘If you gentlemen would follow me?’ The man started leading the way. Their bags would be brought up for them, jeez, as if they didn’t have arms. The lobby was gigantic and all marble and silver and it was almost too much. By the way Alex pulled up his nose for just a second, Kyle guessed he agreed. The man lead them towards the stairs. Kyle, who still had his hand on Alex’s back, felt him hesitate.

‘What’s wrong?’ Kyle asked immediately. Alex looked at him, a little surprised.

‘Oh, nothing. It’s just that sitting all cramped up on that plane wasn’t all that good for my leg. I’ll be fine.’ Alex tried to brush it off, but Kyle wasn’t going to accept that.

‘Excuse me?’ He said and the man turned around. ‘Do you have an elevator? My boyfriend has already been overdoing it lately with his leg, I’m trying to get him to take it easy.’ The man took it completely in stride, which Kyle thought was pretty impressive, he didn’t give any indication that he was curious at all. Alex set a hand on Kyle’s shoulder and squeezed.

‘I told you I was fine.’ Alex said, his voice low, even though Kyle was pretty sure the man could hear them anyways.

‘Yes, but you’re not.’ Kyle said easily, following into the elevator. It was incredibly shiny and if the whole place looked like this, Kyle was going to end up with a migraine. However, the shiny walls of the elevator had one advantage, he could look at the picture him and Alex made.

He was probably projecting or something, but they looked _good_ together. Alex looked _good_. It was like a weight had fallen off his shoulders the moment they left Roswell. As much as Alex beat himself up over leaving that town (but mostly the people in it) again and again, to Kyle, it seemed like maybe leaving Roswell was good for Alex. And if it was good for Alex, how could it be bad?

Sure, there was other factors involved in that, probably, but to be completely honest, Kyle didn’t really care. He just wanted Alex to smile more, and the amount he’d been smiling had increased by about a tenfold as soon as they left the state of New Mexico. Kyle realized his thumb was making soft circles on Alex’s lower back. He pulled his hand back when the elevator door dinged and opened. He didn’t want to push his luck. They followed the man down a hallway.

‘This will be your room for your stay.’ The man handed them both a key card as he stopped in front of a door. He used what Kyle assumed was the master key to open the door and showed them inside. Alex’s eyebrows disappeared towards his hairline. Kyle was inclined to agree.

The place was, admittedly, beautiful. Insanely over the top, but aesthetically very pleasing. Everything seemed to have been made in the same few shades, there were lots of marble and silver accents. Kyle wasn’t exactly an expert at interior decorating, but he was pretty sure this place was well done.

‘Wow.’ Alex said, smiling kindly at the man. ‘This is beautiful.’

‘You will be staying in one of our rooms with the most spectacular view. It is especially nice at night.’ The man smiled at Alex. Kyle wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but the man’s smile seemed more genuine towards Alex than it had seemed in the beginning. Alex’s charm always worked, he was going to sweep everyone off their feet. Probably including Kyle, but that was a problem he’d deal with later.

‘Thank you very much.’ Kyle said.

‘If there’s anything we can do for you there’s a brochure on the table which will tell you exactly where to find everything and how to contact us.’ Kyle was half-convinced the man would bow before leaving, but he didn’t. ‘Your bags should be up any minute, enjoy your stay.’

‘That won’t be a problem, thank you.’ Kyle said. The man left them standing in the living room space and closed the door behind him with a soft click.

‘Holy shit.’ Alex said, his shoulders slumped a little, like he was tired of standing up straight. ‘What the fuck is wrong with people?’ That made Kyle laugh. He walked up to Alex and stood next to him. ‘Who needs this much luxury?’ Alex asked.

‘I don’t know.’ Kyle shrugged. ‘I’m not paying for it, that’s all I care about.’

‘I guess.’ Alex said, there was a knock at the door, that should be their bags.

‘Sit down, I’ll get them.’ Kyle said, gently steering Alex in the direction of the couch. Alex rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue with him.

\--

‘Alright, this is as good as it’s going to get.’ Kyle turned around at Alex’s words. He’d been staring out of the window while Alex had demanded the bathroom.

He wasn’t quite sure what Alex meant by “as good as it was going to get”, he looked fucking amazing. He was wearing his dress blues, the dark blue uniform hugged him just right, showing off the slim line of his waist, the bars on his shoulders seemed to make them look wider and something about the colour made Alex look… golden. Alex was always handsome, but there was something about Alex in a uniform that made Kyle’s tie feel just a little too tight.

‘What? Did I button my shirt wrong?’ He realized he’d been staring when Alex raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Kyle closed his mouth (had it been open the whole time?) and tried to swallow away the tight feeling in his throat.

‘No. You look amazing.’ Kyle managed. Alex shifted, he could see the blush appear high on Alex’s cheeks.

‘Thanks. You look pretty good yourself.’ Alex smiled. It was that soft smile that always made Kyle feel warm all over. Kyle was wearing a plain black suit, sure it was his nicest one, but he didn’t think he could compare to Alex. ‘I like the scruff.’ Alex said as he walked closer.

‘I thought about shaving it.’ Kyle said as Alex joined him by the window.

‘I’m glad you didn’t.’ He said, smiling and he raised up his hand to brush it past Kyle’s jaw. Kyle could feel his eyes widen at the touch of Alex’s fingers. Alex blinked, seemingly realizing what he was doing and he pulled his hand back with an awkward cough. ‘Just- uh, getting some practice in, you know?’

‘Y-yeah, good idea.’ Kyle nodded, shifting awkwardly. ‘Are you ready to head down?’ Alex nodded, his smile had gone tense, but Kyle wasn’t sure what to do about it. He was pretending to be dating his best friend, it wasn’t like he’d done this before.

They were quiet on the way down, and Kyle was just starting to wonder if he’d made a mistake doing this. But when they arrived in the big, ballroom kind of area, Alex relaxed into that same warm, charming smile he’d had before. He looked strong and powerful and handsome as fuck, Kyle was so screwed.

‘Ah, Valenti!’ The voice of doctor Dickbag made him clench his jaw, but Alex stepped closer to him and set his hand on Kyle’s shoulder, smiling as he leant towards Kyle’s ear.

‘Show time, babe.’ Kyle couldn’t help but smile at that and he slipped his left arm around Alex’s waist. He was allowed now. Doctor Asshole was standing with a group of others Kyle recognized from his year. They were all looking at him curiously, or more accurately they were looking at _Alex_.

‘Shawn.’ Kyle said with a smile, approaching the man where he was standing to the side, reaching out with the arm not around Alex to shake his hand. McDouche did his usual “I’m gonna squeeze your hand like I’m trying to break it thing”, asshole. He was overly tanned, teeth bleached so white Kyle had trouble looking at them, and he was wearing an obnoxiously blue shirt under his black suit. His beady little eyes were still as flat and plain blue as Kyle remembered them being, his blond hair was slicked back and it made him look greasy and gross. At least, in Kyle’s humble opinion.

The others Kyle remembered as Jacob, Ryan and Oliver.

Shithead’s wife, that Kyle recognized from back in college was, admittedly, beautiful. Glossy brown hair, wide green eyes and pouty lips, but now that Kyle had been allowed to stare at Alex, he wasn’t that impressed anymore.

‘Good to see you. It’s been a while.’ Doctor McBastard said. Alex set his right hand on Kyle’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly. It stopped Kyle from replying with “not long enough”. Instead he turned his head to look at Alex.

‘This is my boyfriend, Captain Alex Manes.’ Alex smiled, releasing Kyle’s shoulder and shaking McAsshole’s hand.

‘Hi, nice to meet you.’ Alex lied. He then offered his hand to Shithead’s wife.

‘This is my wife, Alicia.’ Assclown said, she batted her lashes at Alex.

‘Nice to meet you. Captain, huh?’ She asked, holding onto his hand for just a little longer than necessary. Kyle fought not to grin like an idiot as Alicia’s eyes travelled over Alex’s body. Alex just sort of smiled politely, eyes slightly narrowed.

‘Yes ma’am.’ He said, Kyle looked at the others. They all seemed to realize they were staring and hurried to introduce themselves. Kyle tried to remember which blonde, petite girl belonged to which of his old classmates, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to.

‘So, Alex, how did you two meet?’ Alicia asked, setting a hand on Alex’s arm. Kyle didn’t really like that. Alex shifted closer to him, causing her hand to fall off him.

‘We’ve known each other since we were kids.’ He said, smiling softly at Kyle. Kyle nodded slowly, momentarily unable to look away from those warm eyes.

‘Yes, best friends all the way through our childhood.’ He looked back at Alicia trying to, subtly, say _back the fuck off_ with his eyes.

‘Except high school.’ Alex said with a smirk. Kyle sighed.

‘Yes, except high school.’

‘What happened in high school?’ One of the girlfriends, Denise- Debbie-Danielle?, asked. Her interest seemingly piqued by the smell of drama in the air.

‘Kyle was…kind of a dick to me in high school.’ Alex said, but a fond smile stayed firmly on his face. ‘We had a few disagreements about my lifestyle choices, I believe you called it.’ Kyle made a face.

‘Yeah, basically I realized I was bi as hell, but I was really scared of people finding out, so I decided the best way to take any suspicion off me, was by being a dick to the only openly gay kid in our town.’ He flinched. ‘Sorry.’

‘High school is ten years to the left.’ Alex waved a hand at him, leaning closer, his chest pressed against Kyle’s side. ‘You’ve apologized, more than once.’ He added with a smirk. Kyle wet his lips and grinned, Alex’s eyes darted down to his mouth, just for the effect, probably.

‘How did you get over that?’ Assclown asked, like he was exited at the prospect of stirring up trouble.

‘I left.’ Alex shrugged. ‘Joined the Air Force, spend most of the next ten years overseas.’ Kyle could see the admiration in their eyes. Good, they better admire him.

‘Bravest person I know.’ Kyle said honestly. Alex looked at him for a beat and then leaned in and pressed a kiss to Kyle’s cheek. He ignored how his breath hitched the second Alex leaned in. Alex leaned a little more into Kyle and he frowned at him. ‘Is your leg bothering you?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Babe, you’ve got to stop pushing so hard. You heard your PT, after long days, pain means give it a rest.’ Kyle said, concern lacing his voice. Alex sighed.

‘We’re talking to your old classmates, I don’t want to be difficult.’

‘You’re in pain, you’re not difficult.’ He looked up to realize that the others were staring at him. Alex seemed to realize the same thing.

‘I lost my right leg. That’s how I ended up back in town and that’s when we reconnected.’ Alex, sneaky little shit, went right back to explaining their cover story.

‘You lost your leg, and you’re still in the Air Force now?’ Shitface McDouchebag asked. Alex’s smile tightened. He tilted his head.

‘Yes. I’m a codebreaker, I don’t need my leg for that.’

They made more small talk that Kyle pretended to listen to. He thought doctor Fuckface may have told a story about how amazing his kid was at playing baseball, and Oliver said something about how he was going to Boston to train with the best trauma surgeons in the country, but he honestly didn’t pay all that much attention. He watched Alex. Alex who smiled and nodded and looked like a dream. Alex who was also still kind of leaning on Kyle a little. Kyle found his eyes drifting to the bar, there were barstools there.

‘Babe, we should go get a drink.’ Kyle said, nodding at the barstools.

‘Oh yes, that’d be nice.’ Alex said, flashing that dazzling smile at the others. ‘We’ll see each other around, right?’

‘Yes, of course. Maybe we can meet at the pool tomorrow.’ Alicia offered with a grin. Had she seriously not gotten the message yet?

‘We’ll see.’ Alex said diplomatically. ‘It depends how late it gets today.’ He smirked at Kyle. Kyle bit his lip to try and hide his smile.

He took Alex’s hand and started to lead him over to the bar. They only got about half way across the room before Kyle was stopped by a voice.

‘Kyle Valenti?’ Kyle stopped and turned his head to find-

‘Steph?’ He asked, she grinned.

‘Holy shit, Kyle Valenti at a reunion, I never thought I’d see the day.’ Steph said with a wide smirk, her eyes darting up and down his body. Alex’s hand squeezed his and Kyle looked over at him. There was a tension on his face that hadn’t been there before.

‘I’ll get us those drinks, yeah? You catch up.’ Alex said and Kyle frowned a little but nodded. Maybe Alex’s leg was bothering him more than he let on.

‘Yeah, I’ll meet you at the bar, okay? Go sit down for a bit.’ Kyle said, trying to give off reassuring vibes. Alex nodded and he slipped his hand from Kyle’s as he made his way over to the bar. Steph watched Alex leave with an interested expression on her face.

‘Boyfriend?’ She asked, tilting her head as she let her eyes travel up and down Alex’s body. Kyle felt his jaw clench automatically.

‘Yeah.’ Kyle said. She turned her eyes back to him and checked him out, equally as obviously.

‘He’s very hot.’ She said and smirked. ‘You’re still hot.’

‘Thanks?’

‘You wouldn’t happen to want to do that thing we did back in med school again, would you?’ Steph asked. Kyle could feel the heat creep up his neck.

‘No, not really.’ He said, trying to keep the tension from his voice. ‘He’s all I need.’ Steph shrugged.

‘Alright.’ She accepted his decline easily. ‘How have you been?’ She moved on like she hadn’t just suggested that they’d have a threesome.

‘Good.’ Kyle said. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to her, him and Steph had spent a lot of time together in med school, both studying and doing…other things, he just wanted to go check on Alex. ‘You?’

‘I’ve been good too, I work in Seattle now. It’s really nice up there.’

‘Cool.’

‘So, what’s his name?’ Steph asked. ‘The one that has Kyle Valenti all locked up.’

‘Alex.’

‘Wait, childhood best friend, Alex?’ Steph asked, Kyle forgot he’d told her about him.

‘Yeah.’

‘That’s sweet. How long have you been together?’

‘A few months.’ Kyle said. If Steph noticed he was being short as hell, she definitely wasn’t letting it deter her.

‘You’ve been tiring him out, huh?’ She asked with a smirk, Kyle frowned in confusion. ‘He had to go sit down? How long have you been here?’ Kyle was starting to get a little annoyed.

‘Like thirty minutes, but that has nothing to do with anything. He’s been overdoing it with his prosthetic, I’m trying to get him to take it easy, but he’s stubborn.’ He said, maybe a little more sharp than was necessary. He just didn’t like anyone suggesting Alex wasn’t tough. Steph raised her eyebrows at him.

‘Jeez, alright. Relax Valenti. Maybe you should go have that drink, loosen up a little.’ She looked over his shoulder. ‘Especially since there’s a guy flirting with your man right now.’ Kyle looked over his shoulder and sure enough, there was a man sitting on the barstool next to Alex, leaning into his space. Alex looked uncomfortable. There was tension between his shoulder blades, he was sitting back as far as he could without outright leaning away from the guy. The guy was objectively hot, but Kyle hated him with passion already.

‘I’ll go get that drink. See you around Steph.’ He said without looking at her.

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever Valenti.’ He knew she was annoyed with him, but he also knew that she was one of the only people here that would forgive him for that by the morning, because she was actually someone he considered an old friend. He walked over to the bar, never taking his eyes off the guy as he grinned at Alex, wide and with clear intent.

‘Hey babe.’ Kyle said, placing himself on Alex’s other side. Alex turned to him with a relieved sigh and he immediately let some of the tension in his shoulders go.

‘Hey K.’ Alex pushed one of the two beers in front of him over to Kyle. He accepted it gratefully. It seemed like Alex’s tactic was just to turn away and ignore the guy. Kyle didn’t recognize him, but he looked annoyed. ‘How was your old friend?’

‘Good, she’s working up in Seattle now.’ He didn’t mention that was about the only info he’d gotten from Steph before bailing. Alex smiled, but it was still a little tight. His eyes seemed to be trying to ask a question. Kyle didn’t understand, so he leant forward into Alex’s space and brushed his lips past Alex’s cheek, he hovered there for a second to give Alex the opportunity to ask what he wanted to ask.

‘Do you know this guy?’ Alex asked after a beat of silence, his breath brushed past Kyle’s ear and he realized he may have made a mistake. He cleared his throat as he leaned back. He shook his head as an answer to Alex’s question. Alex nodded sharply.

He turned and looked at the guy over his shoulder. He was, somehow, still there, looking put out and grumpy.

‘Could you, I don’t know, stop glaring at me?’ Alex asked, titling his head. The guy pulled up his lip in a sneer.

‘We were having a conversation and you just turned around and started ignoring me.’ He said. Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

‘We were not “having a conversation”, you were talking _at_ me, _and_ you put your hand on my leg, while I told you I was just waiting for my boyfriend.’ Alex said, gesturing at Kyle over his shoulder. ‘You made several comments about, what was it again, “my spectacular ass” and when I told you I was in no way interested in you, you ignored me. So let me make this clear, get out of my space, or I’ll remove you myself.’ Alex said, Kyle would have said it was hot when Alex got all snarky and dangerous like this, but Kyle was also really pissed.

‘He put his hand on your leg?’ Kyle asked, surprising himself with the amount of venom in his voice.

‘Yeah and if he tries that again, I’m going to break his hand.’ Alex said with a final cool look at the guy before turning away.

‘Fucking bitch, I bet you’re not worth any of that attitude.’ The guy said as he got up and Kyle actually had to clench his hands around the edge of the bar to make sure he didn’t punch the guy in the nose.

‘What was that?’ Alex asked, louder this time, several people in the near vicinity turned to see what was going on. ‘I reject you, tell you I’m here with my boyfriend and request if you could not put your hands on me again and you want to call _me_ a fucking bitch?’

‘Jesus Christ Aaron, way to be an asshole.’ A guy that was watching them stepped forward towards the rude guy, apparently called Aaron. He came over and took Aaron by the arm. ‘Sorry about him, he gets really pushy when he’s drunk.’ The guy apologized to Alex.

‘You should keep a closer eye on him, he could have gotten hurt.’ Alex said and Aaron glared. ‘I generally don’t react well when strangers touch me without my consent.’ The guy grimaced.

‘I can imagine. Yet again, sorry about him. I guess I just have to buy one of those leashes they have for kids, right?’ He joked. Alex seemed to take pity on the guy and he actually huffed out a laugh.

‘Now that would be funny.’ He said with a fairly convincing smile.

‘Sorry again, enjoy the rest of your night.’

Alex turned back to Kyle and because Kyle had been kind of leaning around him to see the asshole, this now put them in close proximity to each other. Alex didn’t seem to be startled, nor did he back off. Kyle didn’t really want to either.

‘That was pretty hot.’ He said without thinking about it. Alex blinked and then smirked.

‘Yeah?’ Kyle bit his lip and nodded. He was certain he didn’t imagine Alex’s eyes flickering down to his mouth.

Alex was good at this. This whole, hey let’s pretend that we’re dating, thing. Very convincing.

Kyle backed off a little, but Alex seemed hellbent on killing him because he raised his beer bottle to his lips and took a long swig of it. The way his lips were wrapped around the bottle was completely unfair and by the way Alex smirked when he lowered the bottle, he was perfectly aware of that.

They watched some of the others in the room as they finished their beers. It was a pretty good reminder to Kyle, a reminder of the life he once thought he wanted and the life he ended up being happy in. Sure, he wasn’t a leading surgeon in a big city and he didn’t have a giant house and a golden retriever and a wife and 2.4 kids, but he had family, friends, Alex. Sure, he was also involved in a massive alien conspiracy, he’d almost killed a man and he had found out recently his dad had been murdered, and he had a half-sister, but that was not enough to make him wish he’d stayed in a big city.

They spend another hour making their way around the room, talking to a few people Kyle had actually liked and Alex was a dream. He made people laugh and smile and they all seemed a little awestruck by him. Not that Kyle could blame them. He was really damn charming, smart and hot as hell.

He was Kyle’s best friend and he was still amazed by him every day.

‘-and that’s how it just, crashed.’ Nico said, motioning his hands wildly. He’d been explaining to Alex how his computer just completely bailed on him on the day before they had to turn in a huge project, and how he’d literally shown up at Kyle’s door at 2am pleading for his help.

‘Oh yeah, that was a _long_ night.’ Kyle agreed. He turned to Alex, who was looking at him with a fond smile. ‘I tried to help him fix it, but honestly, I think it was just pure dumb luck that we were able to get it back on. The first thing we did was email it to me so I had the document as well. It died like ten seconds later.’ Alex laughed, all warm and inviting and Kyle took his hand without thinking about it. Alex, to his credit, didn’t even really bat an eye. He just squeezed Kyle’s hand and brushed his thumb over Kyle’s knuckles.

‘Well, computers can be very temperamental.’ Alex said with a small smirk on his face.

‘Wow, that’s a very politically correct way of saying it was totally pure, dumb luck.’ Kyle laughed and Alex rolled his eyes, and shifted. He was redistributing his weight again, he’d been doing that a lot over the last thirty minutes. ‘It was really good seeing you again, Nico.’ Kyle said and Nico smiled.

‘It was good to see you too Kyle,’ He turned to Alex. ‘and it was very nice to meet you, Alex.’ Nico had always been good at taking a hint and he clearly hadn’t lost that in the last few years.

‘It was nice meeting you too.’ Alex said, he kept smiling until Nico moved away and then turned to Kyle with a questioning look.

‘You’re tired.’ Kyle stated and Alex blinked at him for a second.

‘Yeah.’ He said after a beat. ‘Was it that obvious?’

‘No.’ Kyle said and that made Alex laugh.

‘I could do with some sleep, if that’s okay with you.’ Alex said. ‘If you want to stay a little longer that’s fine.’

‘Nope.’ Kyle said easily. ‘I’ve seen everyone I wanted to see and a lot of people I _didn’t_ want to see. I’m ready to get out of here.’ He started leading the way out of the room, he wasn’t in a hurry, but he was kind of tired and he knew Alex was too. They headed out into the hallway, taking the elevator up to their floor.

‘You’re still holding my hand.’

‘Oh.’ Kyle said and he let go. Alex looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. Alex ran both hands through his hair as he leaned back against the wall of the elevator and if Kyle could, he’d kiss him. Right. Okay. So, it wasn’t weird for him to think that, right? Alex looked incredible, he was tired, it had been a long day, he’d been pretending to be in love with Alex. That was why he thought that. Probably. He should get some sleep.

When they entered their room, and Kyle hit the lights, he realized something he hadn’t quite processed before. He’d been too busy trying to figure out the best way to stick it to TBAOTP (The Biggest Asshole On The Planet, he was still working on a more catchy acronym). There was one bed. A big bed. But only one bed. He cleared his throat.

‘You can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.’ He said and Alex made an amused noise.

‘Kyle, we’re both adults, we can sleep in the same bed.’ Alex shrugged off his jacket and Kyle got distracted by the way his white button up stretched over his shoulders. He started pulling on his tie with an annoyed expression. ‘God I hate wearing ties.’ He mumbled.

‘Oh, right. Okay.’ Kyle said, way too late. Alex turned around. It was unfair. His hair was messy from him running his hands through it, he was undressing and Kyle was weak.

‘If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to. I’m just saying you don’t need to sleep on the couch on my account.’ Alex said kindly. He was trying to reassure Kyle.

‘No, I don’t have a problem with it. I just don’t want _you_ to be uncomfortable.’ Alex smiled, and shook his head.

‘Well, I’m good.’ He said as he pulled his tie off his neck and threw it onto his jacket. He undid the top few buttons of his shirt and Kyle turned away. He shrugged off his own jacket and tossed it over the back of the couch, he struggled with his tie and then with the buttons of his shirt. He refused to acknowledge it was because his hands were shaking a little.

‘I’m gonna brush my teeth.’ Alex said and Kyle just nodded. He shot out of his dress pants and into his sleeping pants, they were the really soft plaid ones that Kyle adored. He usually slept shirtless, but he’d brought a plain white shirt, he could wear that. When he heard Alex come from the bathroom, he looked up. He was still wearing his slacks, but he was shirtless and Kyle got distracted by the soft curve of his hips and the warmth of his skin- ‘Your turn.’ Alex said, plucking a shirt from his bag and pulling it over his head.

‘Uh, yeah. Thanks.’ Kyle fled into the bathroom. It was really nice and everything but Kyle couldn’t even really focus on that. He looked at himself in the mirror and figured he should be firm. He needed to kick these stupid feelings right to the curb, asap. This was Alex. His best friend. The guy who had been through so many traumatic and just straight up awful things in the last year. He needed a friend, a good friend, not for that friend to fall in love with him. He was still getting over the whole Guerin situation. He was just starting to trust Kyle again, the last thing he wanted to do was mess that up because his brain had suddenly realized how fucking hot Alex was.

‘Kyle? You okay in there?’ Alex’s voice startled him from his thoughts.

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ Kyle ignored how completely un-fine he sounded. He quickly brushed his teeth and when he came out of the bathroom, Alex was already under the covers, his prosthetic was set against the bedside table. He smiled up at Kyle and he ignored the swoop of affection in his stomach.

‘Could you get the lights?’ Alex asked and Kyle realized there was still several bigger lights on in the room. ‘I’m so comfortable.’ Alex made an innocent face and Kyle huffed out a laugh.

‘Sure.’

‘Thanks.’

He went around the room and turned off all the lights, leaving only Alex’s bedside lamp on for him to find his way over to the bed. He realized with a soft laugh that Alex had neatly hung his dress blues on a hanger while Kyle was in the bathroom. When he slid under the covers, he realized Alex was right. The bed was super comfortable. The mattress was just soft enough and it didn’t have weird bumps or dips in it. The pillows were fluffy and _smelled_ new. Kyle sighed, he was pretty happy he wasn’t sleeping on the couch.

Alex flipped the light off and the room fell into darkness.

‘That went well, right?’ Alex’s voice sounded, Kyle’s eyes were adjusting and he could see the outline of him where he was laying on his side, facing Kyle. There was a good bit of distance between them, at least a few feet, the bed was so big they didn’t need to be pressed close together.

‘Yeah, you were amazing.’ Kyle said. ‘At least half the people here are now in love with you and will try to steal you away.’ Alex snorted.

‘Yeah, right.’

‘I’m serious, you looked like a fucking dream, you were polite and showed how smart you are and you made people laugh, but didn’t take anyone’s bullshit.’ Kyle said, it was easier talking like this, when he couldn’t really see the look on Alex’s face. ‘Dream date.’ He could hear Alex swallow in the silence of the room.

‘Thank you.’ He whispered. ‘I had fun.’

‘So did I.’ Kyle agreed easily.

They were quiet for a while, Kyle actually thought Alex may have fallen asleep. Kyle hadn’t quite found the calmness yet to close his eyes.

‘If I have a nightmare, please don’t touch me.’ Alex’s soft voice broke the silence in the room. Kyle wasn’t even sure if Alex knew he was still awake. He probably did.

‘Okay.’ He said. ‘Do you have them often?’

‘Not as much anymore, but still. I don’t want to hurt you.’ Alex said and Kyle couldn’t even imagine what he’d have nightmares about that would have him wake up fighting.

‘Alright. Anything I _can_ do?’ He asked. That made Alex pause for a bit.

‘I’m not sure, maybe just talk to me.’

‘No one has asked you that before, have they?’ Kyle asked, he wanted to reach out, but he didn’t.

‘I usually don’t stick around long enough.’ Alex said. ‘Or they don’t.’ Alex went quiet, but Kyle had the feeling there was more, so he waited. ‘It’s not like I want them to stick around.’

‘Why not?’ He would never have asked that question if the lights were on. Alex would have _looked_ at him, and he would have chickened out. Alex was quiet for a while, Kyle guessed he was trying to find the right words. Alex had always needed a second to formulate the deeper, more personal, thoughts.

‘I’m scared they’re not going to like what they find when they get too close.’ He would have told him that was bullshit, but he knew Alex, and he wouldn’t believe him anyways.

‘What about me?’ He asked instead.

‘You already know.’ Yes, he did.

‘But I still want to be around you.’

‘Maybe you’re just insane.’ Alex said, and Kyle could hear him smile.

‘Maybe I am.’ Kyle said with a soft laugh. ‘There’s nothing wrong with being a little bit crazy.’ Alex went silent for a few seconds.

‘I’m going to sleep.’

‘Goodnight Alex.’

‘Goodnight Kyle.’

There was something kind of reassuring about sharing a bed with someone. Kyle had always liked it. Something about the sound of another human being there settled him. It, apparently, worked even better when that person was Alex. Kyle slept like a baby, better than he had since he’d found out about the whole Caufield business and the circumstances of his father’s death, since he’d seen an entire building full of people explode, since Alex had shared the reality of war with him.

He should have known he’d wake up with Alex’s icy cold foot against his legs. He remembered that from when they were kids. Alex’s feet had always been cold. That didn’t change now that he only had one. That did also make him realize they were much closer than they were when they fell asleep. And that there was a hand on his stomach, and that he had his hand resting against a back. And that Alex’s hair tickled under his nose. And that it smelled like… something warm and smoky. Sandalwood? Kyle took his hand off Alex’s back.

Alex must have sensed he was awake, even in his subconscious he picked up on minute changes Kyle didn’t. He shifted and mumbled something Kyle didn’t catch. His hand dropped off Kyle’s stomach.

‘What was that?’ He asked, watching the little crinkle between Alex’s eyebrows, the shadow on his jawline, the contrast between his skin and the white pillows. 

‘I need to kidnap this mattress.’ Alex mumbled, a little more clearly this time. Kyle huffed out a laugh.

‘I don’t think it counts as kidnapping if it’s an inanimate object.’ Alex paused, his frown deepened.

‘Don’t get all logical on me right now.’ He said, rolling away from Kyle. Alex stretched his arms over his head, he still looked sleepy and a little rumpled. His hair was a _mess_ , sticking up in all sorts of directions that defied gravity. Kyle tried not to smile like an idiot, but Alex’s head dropped to the side and he looked at him. ‘There’s no one around, you don’t need to look at me like that right now.’

Kyle turned over and pushed himself into a sitting position. How was he supposed to explain he wasn’t really pretending?

‘You go back to being seven years old in the mornings.’ Kyle said. ‘I was just reliving old memories.’

‘We did have some good times, didn’t we?’ Alex said, the smile clearly audible in his voice. Alex in the morning seemed so much more unguarded than Alex during the day.

‘Yeah, we did.’ Kyle agreed.

‘So, I did have a question?’ Alex said, and Kyle could hear him moving behind him. ‘No one seemed surprised you brought a guy to this.’

‘That’s not really a question.’ Alex let out a groan and Kyle laughed. ‘Sorry.’ He got up, the wooden floor was a little cold under his feet, but he didn’t mind that much. ‘I kind of figured out I was bi during med school, so I guess it wouldn’t be a surprise to them that I’d end up with a guy.’ He turned to face Alex and he found him looking at him intently.

‘Bi, huh?’

‘Uh yeah.’ Alex’s face was unreadable as he processed that for a second. Had Kyle not told him that before? He felt like he’d told him that before.

‘Okay.’ Alex said and he seemed to just, move on. ‘What’s the plan for today?’ Alex asked.

‘Uh, not sure. We should check out the brochure.’ Kyle shrugged. He remembered Alicia’s invitation from last night, but he wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to hang around by the pool all day.

‘Alright, do you want the bathroom first?’

‘Sure.’ Kyle agreed.

‘Could you just grab my crutches?’ Alex asked, with a pained grin. ‘I left them over there.’ He nodded at the armchair that had two crutches leaning against it. Kyle grabbed them and handed them to Alex, who nodded thankfully.

‘If you need any help, just holler.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

They end up ignoring the invite to come to the pool, Kyle wasn’t necessarily against going to the pool, but he didn’t like the people they’d be meeting there, and also Alex didn’t seem to want to go. Instead they had breakfast at ten, and then explored the big terrain that belonged to the resort. They had a garden at the back of the building full of all sorts of exotic flowers and plants. Kyle wasn’t even going to pretend to know what any of them were, but Alex seemed to enjoy just meandering between them and enjoying the sunshine.

‘Look at _these_.’ Alex said, grabbing Kyle’s sleeve and pulling him towards a particular patch of flowers. Kyle let himself be dragged along, amused by Alex’s enthusiasm. They were pretty, and kind of weird. Lilac in an odd shape that didn’t really look like a flower much, a ribbed sort of oval with darker purple at the edges.

‘Pretty cool.’ Kyle agreed and Alex looked at him over his shoulder with a flat expression.

‘You don’t give a damn, do you?’

‘They’re pretty?’ Kyle tried and Alex let out a short bark of laughter.

‘You’re ridiculous.’

‘But you love it.’ Kyle replied automatically. Alex quirked the corner of his mouth up, his eyes darted over Kyle’s face.

‘Most of the time.’ He agreed, he dropped his hand off Kyle’s arm and headed off again. Kyle followed, powerless to resist.

Once they’d been through the whole garden, it was about time for lunch. They ended up at a table with Nico, his wife and Steph. Sadly, that didn’t seem like enough to deter doctor Douchebag and his wife.

‘Oh there you two are!’ Alicia called out, overtly perky as she dragged her husband over to them. Steph made a face at Kyle, one that said “ugh, really?”.

‘Good morning.’ Alex said, blank smile on his face.

‘Had a good night, huh?’ Alicia smirked, pulling a chair over so she could sit next to Alex. Kyle didn’t like it. Alex let a tight smirk spread over his face.

‘Always.’ It took Kyle a second to realize that the hand that landed on his thigh was Alex’s as he shifted closer to him. It was a possessive little gesture, that shouldn’t have made Kyle’s collar feel as tight as it did. Steph laughed and Alex’s smirk got more self-satisfied at that. Alicia’s smile tightened a little.

Kyle didn’t understand her, never had. Even back in med school, she would flirt with others even when she was with Asshole Extraordinaire, he never seemed to care, as long as she came home with him at the end of the day, and she always did that. It was like she just wanted the attention, the confirmation that she could get guys to look at her. Her charms didn’t work on Alex, however and she didn’t seem to like that. Apparently she didn’t care that he was gay and wasn’t interested in _any_ women.

‘Kyle’s always been fun.’ Steph agreed.

‘Yeah?’ Alex asked, turning to her with an interested look on his face. Steph jumped at the opportunity.

‘Oh yes, you should have seen him in med school. Life of the party. There was one night, where we were in Boston for this trip and we-‘

‘Oh no.’ Kyle said sharply when he realized what story she was about to tell. ‘No, no, no, we made a deal. You pinkie promised.’ He said, pointing an accusing finger at her. Alex made a face and sucked air in through clenched teeth.

‘As much as I want to hear this, you can’t break a pinkie promise.’ Alex said solemnly and Kyle felt a massive wave of affection. Alex was only saying that because he didn’t want Shithead to hear what Steph was about to say. Steph sighed, but seemed to give in easily.

‘Fine, buzzkill.’ She said, pouting at Kyle but he wouldn’t cave. He wasn’t ashamed of his… experimentation? in college, but he didn’t exactly need _everyone_ to know about it and if you told Alicia, you bet everyone would know within the hour.

‘So, Alex.’ It was the BAOTP who spoke up this time. ‘Are you a party kind of guy? Valenti always was.’

‘From time to time.’ Alex said. ‘Not much partying while we were working, but on leave we’d… have fun.’ Alex said, leaning back in his chair and taking a slow sip of his coffee. He followed it up by licking his lips. Kyle couldn’t help but follow the little glimpse of Alex’s tongue. By the look on Steph’s face, she’d noticed.

‘Well, there’s a party tonight, a proper one this time. You should come.’ Alicia said, completely unsubtle in the way that her invitation only seemed to extend to Alex. Alex, however, turned to Kyle. He looked so damn soft in that pale blue shirt and worn jeans. None of it looked expensive, and yet he looked like a million bucks. He looked comfortable and relaxed, effortlessly beautiful.

‘What do you think, babe?’ Alex asked.

‘Uh, yeah. I’d be up for it, if you are.’ Kyle wasn’t sure what to think of this. He didn’t really go to parties anymore, but this felt like a challenge, and if Alex didn’t mind, he kind of wanted to go.

‘Alright.’ Alex shrugged. ‘Where and when?’

‘Our suite, let’s say at eleven-ish?’ Alicia said, beaming at Alex and tossing her hair over her shoulder.

‘Alright.’ Alex agreed easily. ‘We might not stay long, but we’ll drop by.’ He turned to Steph and Nico. ‘You guys want to come too?’ Kyle had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing. Alicia had clearly just been inviting Alex, got Kyle as an extra and was now being saddled with three more guests. Nico did that thing he used to do when he didn’t want to smile, the little clenching of his jaw as he tried not to show his amusement.

‘I could do with a few drinks.’ He tilted his head to Steph. ‘What do you say?’

‘I’m always up for a drink, you know that.’ Steph bumped her shoulder into Nico’s. He forgot how much he’d enjoyed being around these two. Both were kind-hearted, but always up for mischief.

‘Great.’ Alicia said with a hard smile. ‘Looking forward to it.’ She pushed herself off the chair and disappeared in a flash of brown hair and a hint of perfume. Kyle rolled his eyes as she dragged her husband along.

\--

‘That shithead keeps staring at your ass.’ Alex said in a low tone that had no right being as hot as it was. Kyle looked over his shoulder, kind of confused. Who would be looking at him when Alex looked like _that_. He said he hadn’t brought party clothes beyond his dress blues, expecting a nice relaxed vacation after the initial fancy party, but he’d somehow managed to look like temptation personified.

He was wearing really dark jeans that clung to his thighs but were loose enough around his lower legs that they didn’t bother him with his prosthetic. He was wearing a white button up, that flowed around him. The sleeves were rolled up, showing his toned forearms and the top few buttons were undone, one lower than Kyle was used to and it kept drawing his eyes to the skin on display. He wondered if it would be as warm as it looked. Wondered if it would be warm under his lips if he kissed it.

He’d had a few drinks.

He was a little more buzzed than he cared to admit, and Alex kept _looking_ at him. Those dark, smouldering eyes darting over Kyle as they danced, or you know, pretended to dance. Neither of them was very good. Kyle tried, but he was just never quite as smooth as he wanted to be. Alex had rhythm, but he didn’t like to let go in front of other people. Kyle wondered what he would dance like if they were alone.

Okay. So, Kyle didn’t have the best control over his thoughts or his hands when he was tipsy.

Alex wasn’t as affected as Kyle was. That was clear. His eyes were sharp and he kept throwing looks at the guy who was apparently looking at Kyle. Kyle just bopped his head along to the song and moved closer to Alex. They were pretend boyfriends, that’s what pretend boyfriends would do, right?

‘I think he’s a fucking idiot.’ Kyle leaned forward, bringing his mouth closer to Alex’s ear. Alex made a questioning face at him. ‘Why would he be staring at me?’

Alex’s eyes trailed over him, down, down, down and then back up.

‘Well, you look pretty good.’

‘My ass?’

‘They are good jeans.’ Alex shrugged. Hm.

‘Yeah?’ Kyle said in that _way_ , the way he would normally never talk to Alex, because he was his _friend_ , his best friend. Alex narrowed his eyes just a little.

‘How drunk are you?’ Kyle huffed.

‘Not so drunk that you need to look at me like _that_.’ Kyle said, swaying to the music. ‘I’m just… loose.’ He said and it made Alex quirk up an eyebrow, but an amused eyebrow, so Kyle figured he was okay. Alex’s eyes darted over his shoulder again and narrowed.

‘I’m starting to get pissed off now. Does he not get it?’ Alex asked, setting a hand on Kyle’s hip and coaxing him closer. Kyle went willingly. Whoever this guy was, he might have to thank him.

‘Maybe we should let him know.’

‘Know what?’

‘That I’m not fucking available.’

‘How did you plan on doing that?’ Alex asked, sliding his body closer to Kyle and why hadn’t he really realized before that Alex had a few inches on him? He was _taller_ than Kyle. Was he always this warm?

‘Well, if we were, you know, really dating, I’d say you should probably kiss me.’ Kyle said. He wasn’t lying. That was the most efficient way to let this dude know that Kyle already had everything he needed. Theoretically, of course.

Alex studied him. His eyes still so sharp and sober, Kyle almost felt like it was unfair. Here he was, alcohol loosening his tongue, while Alex was all… all…in control. Looking out for Kyle. Being a good _friend_.

‘Are you going to be weird about this?’ Kyle shook his head.

‘Nah, I’m the one proposing this, aren’t I?’ Alex sighed, but his eyes darted to the guy over Kyle’s shoulder again and something seemed to set. His jaw clenched and his eyes got that determined glint in them that Kyle recognized from back in the day when he’d challenged Alex to do something stupid.

Alex stepped closer, his hand sliding up Kyle’s chest and he could feel the surprise mixed with “uh oh” on his face. Not a bad “uh oh” though. He hadn’t quite realized that his whole proposition meant that Alex would actually, you know, get closer and touch him and stuff. Like, he was about to kiss Alex. His best friend. The one he absolutely, totally, didn’t have feelings for.

‘Okay?’ Alex mumbled in his ear, his lips brushing past the shell of Kyle’s ear. He shuddered. He didn’t trust his voice, but his alcohol muddled brain didn’t seem to care.

‘Yeah, very good. So good.’ Alex chuckled, low and warm in his ear and Kyle put one hand on Alex’s hip and the other flat against his stomach. He was probably only going to get one chance at this, so he’d enjoy it.

Alex’s hand had reached Kyle’s neck and moved up further to slide into his hair. Oh, yeah that was nice too. Kyle found his hands clenching around Alex’s shirt. They were still sort of, swaying to the music, but he wasn’t sure if it was the actual music or just his own heartbeat pounding in his chest. This was about to go either really well, or really bad.

‘You sure about this?’

‘For fucks sake Alex.’ Kyle whined, tugging on Alex’s shirt a little. ‘Just fucking kiss me already.’

‘You curse a lot when you’re drunk.’

‘I’m not drunk.’ Kyle argued. He realized he could smell Alex, and he could feel his smile against his cheek and he was about done waiting now.

He titled his head to the side. He brushed his lips over Alex’s jaw, his stubble prickled at his lips, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t miss the sharp intake of breath, even over the music. Alex pulled back a little so he could face Kyle.

‘You’re so beautiful.’ Kyle didn’t realize he’d said that out loud until Alex blinked at him. Kyle could almost feel Alex’s blush.

The little flicker of his eyes down to Kyle’s mouth, the little intake of breath and the clenching of his fingers in Kyle’s hair was just a little too much for Kyle’s already poor self-control. He closed the gap between them and kissed him.

He wasn’t overly into PDA, and he had a pretty good idea Alex wasn’t either, but their kiss wasn’t exactly chaste. Alex pulled Kyle closer to him, so he could feel the long line of Alex’s body against his. Alex’s stubble under his fingers was very nice. His lips were warm and soft and insistent and he tasted a little bitter, like beer and something else. He allowed his one hand to run through Alex’s hair, he really wanted to know if it was as soft as it looked. Kyle swayed a little as Alex broke the kiss. Alex’s hand on his hip steadied him and he managed to look both amused and kind of frustrated at the same time.

‘You are more drunk than you told me.’ He said, slightly accusing tone in his voice, but a smile on his face. Kyle made an insulted noise. ‘Come on. Let’s get you to bed.’

‘As long as you’re coming to bed with me.’

‘Why wouldn’t I?’ Alex asked, taking Kyle’s hand and tugging him along. They passed Steph, who’d shown up out of pure spite. Steph smirked at him and gave him a thumbs up, he wasn’t sure why, but he returned the gesture.

‘I don’t know.’ Kyle said, probably too late, but whatever. Alex looked at him over his shoulder as they left the party and he laughed softly. Alex didn’t let go of his hand as they rode the elevator to their own floor, and Kyle didn’t really want to let go, so he didn’t and he didn’t bring it up. He followed Alex into the room. ‘Are you really not even buzzed?’ Kyle asked. Alex shrugged, pulling up one shoulder as he let go of Kyle’s hand.

‘A little.’ Alex turned to face him. He tilted his head and smiled, a small, private little thing. ‘I’m… how did you say it, loose?’ Kyle snorted.

\--

He woke up with a headache, but he knew it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. He hadn’t been hangover-drunk in a while, he hadn’t missed it. At least he wasn’t nauseous. The warm body that was curled up against him probably helped.

Wait.

Oh. Right. Alex.

Kyle was on his back, and Alex was on his side. Kyle thought about moving away, but Alex’s hand was on his chest and it was big, but slim and actually really elegant. Surgeon’s hands. He tried to remember how exactly he’d gotten to bed last night. He hadn’t been that drunk. He remembered getting to the party, downing three shots in a row with Steph (that explained the headache), he remembered Alex rolling his eyes fondly and he remembered an annoyingly persistent dude staring at his ass. He remembered Alex kissing him, or did he kiss Alex?

Oh shit, he _kissed_ Alex.

He would have freaked out about it. It wasn’t every day that you kissed your best friend while half-drunk. The best friend that you kind of, maybe, liked a little more than you should. So, yeah, he would have freaked out about it, but then Alex shifted and mumbled something Kyle didn’t quite catch, but his hand moved up over Kyle’s chest and he stopped thinking.

Alex’s fingers drifted along his jaw, scratching at the stubble. Kyle was kind of afraid to move. His one hand was resting against Alex’s back, and he wanted to pull him closer, but he didn’t. He must have been tense, because Alex’s eyes blinked open. He looked up at Kyle blearily. They were close enough that Kyle could see the specks of gold in Alex’s eyes. The corners of his eyes creased as he smiled, warm and comfortable.

‘Morning.’ Alex mumbled. Something clenched in Kyle’s chest. He couldn’t let himself get used to this. He couldn’t let himself fall into the trap of Alex’s warm skin and his kind eyes and those lips. He needed to not be here.

‘Hey.’ He said, much more tightly than he’d planned. He flinched at his own tone. ‘I need a shower.’ He slipped out of bed quickly, avoiding Alex’s eyes and letting Alex’s hand fall on the bed with a soft thump. He all but fled into the bathroom and closed the door. He set his hands against the counter and pressed his palms into the sharp edge.

Why had he thought he could do this? Why had he thought his self-control was good enough for this? Pretending to be in love with your best friend was great and everything, unless you had _actual_ _feelings_ for your best friend. Shit. This was the last thing Alex needed right now. This was supposed to be a relaxing few days away for him, a distraction from all the bullshit back in Roswell. A distraction from the mess with Max and Rosa and Guerin and Maria. Why did Kyle’s stupid heart have to ruin that.

‘Kyle?’ Alex’s voice sounded from outside the bathroom. ‘Are you okay?’ Kyle cleared his throat.

‘Yeah.’ He lied, for the second day in a row. He quickly tugged off his shirt and pants and fled into the shower. The warm water was really nice, but it did nothing to stop the ache in his chest. He only allowed himself to stay under the spray for a few minutes before turning it off and grabbing a towel. He dried of and realized that in his stupid little freak out, he hadn’t brought clean clothes. ‘Fuck.’

He needed to breathe for a second. Calm the fuck down. So he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out. The mirror hadn’t even fogged up, so he was confronted with his own reflection. He looked away. He was generally pretty proud of how he looked, he’d always been somewhat vain. He liked knowing that he looked good, taking care of himself. So, there was no way Alex liked him like that, he’d been in love with _Guerin_ for a decade. Guerin who always looked like he’d just rolled out of bed and into the first clothes he could find. Guerin with his messy curls and his stupid threadbare shirts and ripped jeans.

He shook himself from his musings, the frown between his eyebrows was stupid and unnecessary. Guerin was all the way back in Roswell. Kyle was here, with Alex, who definitely knew something was off.

He figured he should bite the bullet and just face up to his own idiotic behaviour. It was fine. Everything was fine. He’d just survive a few more days and then they’d go back to Roswell and back to the bullshit and within a few days, it would feel like none of this ever happened. It’d be a distant memory. He pulled the door open without allowing himself to hesitate and stepped into the room.

Alex was sitting on the edge of the bed, he’s still in his pyjamas and his crutches are leaning against the bed next to him. He looked up with a frown between his eyebrows and his mouth opening to say something. His eyes landed on Kyle and whatever words he’d wanted to say, seemed to die on his tongue. He looked upset. He kept his eyes so firmly on Kyle’s face it was kind of like a punch to the stomach.

‘K, what’s wrong?’ Alex asked after a long silence. It had been over a decade since Alex had called him that.

‘I- nothing.’ Kyle said and Alex’s jaw tightened.

‘Would you stop lying to me?’ He said. ‘Look, if this is about last night, I asked if you were going to freak out about it and you told me you wouldn’t, so it’s really not fair-‘

‘It’s not.’ Kyle let out a frustrated breath. ‘Not really. I just- I don’t know.’

‘That makes no sense.’ Alex said shifting on the bed like he wanted to get up and pace.

‘I know, just give me a second.’ Kyle tried, swallowing down those treacherous nerves crawling under his skin. ‘Can we just, get dressed and maybe talk over breakfast? We can order in.’

Alex looked at him for a few long, hard seconds, but then released a breath Kyle hadn’t realized he was holding. He deflated and Kyle felt a wave of guilt pulling at him.

‘Okay. Fine.’ Alex sighed and he grabbed his crutches, and moved into the bathroom. ‘I want pancakes.’ He said before the door closed, leaving Kyle alone in the room.

‘Okay.’ Kyle said to the closed door. He rubbed his hands over his face before quickly getting dressed. He hadn’t really brought an outfit for “uncomfortable breakfast with your best friend who you accidently fell in love with”, so he just decided on jeans and a t-shirt, couldn’t go wrong with that.

He was ordering breakfast to their room when he heard the bathroom door open. He didn’t turn around. He knew from yesterday that Alex needed a few extra minutes to get his prosthetic on and then his pants, so Kyle just kept his back to him, gave him privacy and talked to the lady on the other line.

‘So, are they getting me pancakes? I’m not doing this without pancakes.’ Alex said when Kyle hung up the phone. Despite himself, he smiled. Alex’s crutches were leaning against the chair near the bed, prosthetic not visible anymore.

‘Yes, they have pancakes. It should be up in twenty minutes.’

‘Good.’ Alex said, before picking up his phone from the bedside table. ‘Liz texted this morning.’ Kyle had been shocked to see that it was past 10am, he didn’t even remember the last time he slept past nine.

‘What about?’

‘Update on Max, well, more like a non-update. They’ve got nothing new.’ Alex shrugged before sliding his phone into his pocket.

‘I thought we said that they could only contact us in an emergency?’ Kyle said, making sure to keep smiling, so that Alex didn’t take him seriously.

‘You know Liz.’ Alex said after a snort.

‘Yeah, I do.’ Kyle said and something passed over Alex’s face.

‘Right.’

Alex shifted uncomfortably, but he seemed to steel himself after a few seconds and walked over to the large table on the other side of the room. He sat down and picked up yesterday’s newspaper. Kyle wasn’t sure what to do with himself, so he just checked his own phone and waited for their breakfast to be delivered. There wasn’t anything interesting on his phone. Just a text from his mom, telling him she expected him to come over the day he came back, for dinner. He sighed, but agreed.

The knock at the door startled him, but he recovered quickly and went to open the door. Once the breakfast had been set out, and the kind man had left the room again, Kyle steeled himself for an uncomfortable conversation. He closed the door and walked over to the table. Alex had already pulled the pancakes towards himself and he seemed determined to wait Kyle out. Alex had always been patient. Sometimes too patient.

‘I freaked out. Even though I told you I wouldn’t. I’m sorry.’ Kyle said. Alex looked up from where he’d happily been eating his pancakes with an obscene amount of syrup.

‘Why did you freak out?’ Alex asked, before putting another bite into his mouth. It left a little syrup on his bottom lip and Kyle couldn’t help but follow Alex’s tongue as it darted out to catch it. Shit.

‘I think I have feelings for you.’ Kyle blurted out and Alex froze. ‘Genuine feelings.’ Kyle added when Alex’s eyes darted up, wide and shocked.

‘What?’

‘I like you, Alex. Shit, I might even love you. I know it’s fucking selfish and that I shouldn’t be telling you this. This was supposed to be an opportunity to get away from all the drama and I’ve just added more-‘

‘How long?’ Alex interrupted him. His face gave Kyle no hints whatsoever. He hated that Alex had learned how to do that, Kyle used to be able to read him like an open book.

‘Probably a while.’ Kyle admitted. ‘But I didn’t really realize until the whole bullshit with your dad and then with Guerin. I realized I hate seeing you hurt and upset, and that’s not just because you’re my best friend. I realized that I just want-‘ Kyle tried to find the right words.

‘What do you want, Kyle?’

‘I just want you to be happy.’ Kyle said with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. He looked up and Alex still wasn’t giving anything away.

‘And if I told you Guerin makes me happy?’ Alex asked.

‘That would be totally okay.’ It would hurt like a motherfucker, but he didn’t want to mention that. He didn’t want to make Alex feel guilty if that was the case, guilt was a terrible base for a relationship. He looked down at his hand that was clenched around his coffee cup. ‘I just want you to smile more. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve been smiling so much more ever since we left Roswell.’

‘Ever since I’ve been spending more time with you.’ Kyle’s head snapped up. Alex sighed, pushing the rest of his pancakes around on his plate with his fork. He seemed to be trying to find the right words, so Kyle stayed quiet. ‘I don’t feel the same about you as I feel about Guerin,’ Kyle fought his immediate reaction of _ouch that fucking_ _hurt_ and rejection. ‘but I’m starting to think that might be a good thing.’ Kyle let that sink in for a second.

‘Yeah?’ Kyle asked and Alex looked up. He didn’t look angry or disgusted.

‘Everything with Guerin was always hot and heavy and passionate, but we can’t _talk_ to each other, the moment we try to talk, we just end up fighting. We’ve got sexual chemistry, but we’re not _good_ for each other. I’ve hurt him and he’s hurt me and I think being in love is supposed to feel good. You’re supposed to be able to talk to each other, laugh with each other, share things about yourself without being scared of the reaction. I don’t think there’s supposed to be this much _guilt_ , in a relationship.’ Alex fiddled with his fork. ‘Does that make sense?’

‘Yes.’ Kyle smiled. ‘It makes perfect sense.’ Alex pressed his lips together and nodded.

‘We already know a lot about each other. We’ve already been through all the bullshit. You’ve already dated one of my best friends.’ Kyle didn’t miss the flash of hurt, he hoped that was over the whole Maria/Guerin debacle. ‘You make me feel calm, like I have time. I hated it at one point, but you might know me better than anyone else out there right now.’

‘I really like you, Alex. I think you’re brave and smart and kind and you deserve to be happy.’ Kyle said, trying to make sure Alex understood he was serious about this.

‘And you think you can make me happy?’ There was a clear teasing tone to his voice now and it made Kyle grin.

‘I can sure as hell try.’ Alex nodded slowly and he hummed.

‘Well, we’ve still got two and a half days here, let’s make the most of them.’ Alex said, and Kyle finished off his coffee.

‘Alright. What do you want to do first?’ Kyle asked. Alex pushed his plate back and got up. He came over to Kyle’s side of the table and all Kyle could really do was watch, he was allowed now, after all. Alex scraped his teeth over his bottom lip and Kyle swallowed.

Okay. Kyle dropped his fork and it landed on his plate with a clatter that startled him and made Alex grin. Kyle reached out and set his hands on Alex’s hips. He would have gotten up, or something, but Alex settled his hands on Kyle’s shoulders. So he stayed on the chair. Alex slid his hands into Kyle’s hair and leaned forward. Kyle made a noise he would have been embarrassed about, had it not been for Alex’s delighted look.

Alex kissed him, deep and with confidence and Kyle’s hands tightened around Alex’s clothes, tugging him closer. Alex settled on his lap and he tugged on Kyle’s hair a little, nipping at his bottom lip at the same time and Kyle couldn’t do anything but melt under Alex’s touch. Alex tasted like syrup and coffee and very, very faintly of mint and there was no way Kyle could look at pancakes the same way ever again.

He slid his hand under Alex’s shirt to get his hands on bare skin. Alex grinned into their kiss, pressing his chest against Kyle’s. He arched towards Kyle and he needed to get Alex’s shirt off. So he pushed his hands up further, taking Alex’s shirt up with them. Alex broke their kiss and laughed, true and warm, when he got tangled in the shirt. Kyle joined him, because why the fuck not? He was happy, this was fun. Alex flung his shirt somewhere over his shoulder and the carelessness of the gesture made Kyle unreasonably happy. Alex, who always folded his clothes neatly and hung up his suits neatly, tossed his shirt away because he was too busy kissing Kyle.

He trailed his hands all over Alex’s chest, drawing a soft moan from him as his fingers brush over Alex’s nipples. His skin was so warm and he had a few scars on him that Kyle hadn’t noticed before. He hadn’t allowed himself to really _look_ at Alex. He broke their kiss so he could work his way down Alex’s neck and chest, kissing the scar right above Alex’s heart. It didn’t look like the injury had been very deep, but it was still there. He must have lingered on it long enough, because Alex spoke.

‘Knife. It wasn’t that bad, I was fine.’ He sounded a little breathless and Kyle wasn’t going to pretend he wasn’t a little proud of that.

Kyle hummed.

‘Bed?’ He asked, looking up at Alex and yeah, that was pretty hot. Alex nodded firmly, wiggling off Kyle’s lap.

‘Bed.’ Alex confirmed. Kyle had to take a second to breathe before he followed Alex away from the table and towards the bed again.

There was absolutely something different about Alex like this. Something comfortable and smooth and really fucking sexy. This seemed like the part he was familiar with, the part he knew, he understood. Kyle on the other hand, felt like a shaky mess. He understood the conversations with Alex, not this part. He didn’t want to mess this up. He wanted to be good, for Alex.

A hand on his cheek stopped him from diving deeper into his nervous thoughts. Alex smiled at him, softer, less pure temptation.

‘Relax.’ Alex said. ‘We don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. We can take it slow.’ Relief flooded Kyle’s system. Alex understood.

‘Okay.’ Kyle said, moving in close and putting his hand on Alex’s bare stomach and sliding it up, he could feel the soft bumps of his ribs under his fingers and he could feel Alex’s breath on his face. ‘I want to though. I’m just nervous.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it’s you.’ He finally made himself look Alex in the eye. ‘I don’t want to disappoint you.’

‘The only way you could do that, is if you went back to your high school ways.’ Alex said, his fingers were playing with the bottom of Kyle’s shirt. ‘And I don’t see that happening.’

‘Never.’ Kyle said firmly.

‘Alright.’ Alex agreed easily. ‘Now take this off please and if at any point you want to stop or do something else, just tell me.’ Kyle nodded wordlessly and tugged his shirt off over his head.

He still felt a little nervous, but he trusted Alex and the swoop of want in his stomach when Alex’s eyes roamed over his chest was good. He let Alex manoeuvre him onto the bed, falling back against the mountain of pillows Alex had built at some point. Alex set his hands on the mattress on either side of Kyle’s legs and he crawled forward. Kyle dropped his head back with a groan, he would never be able to get that image out of his head. Not that he wanted to. Alex chuckled, a low, pleased sound in the back of his throat that had Kyle’s pulse pick up speed. He could feel he was already half hard in his jeans, Alex hadn’t even touched him yet.

Alex kissed him, but before Kyle had the chance to properly respond, Alex was on the move. Kissing Kyle’s cheeks, his nose, along his jawline and down his neck. He scraped his teeth over that spot at the base of Kyle’s neck that had him shiver.

‘How- how did you know about that?’ Kyle managed, and Alex looked up at him with a smirk.

‘Liz.’ Kyle made a sound pretty close to a whine as Alex just ducked back down and kissed and licked and nipped his way down Kyle’s chest. He paid extra attention to Kyle’s nipples and Kyle was writhing by the time Alex reached his belt.

‘I’m not sure how I feel about you and Liz talking about what I like in bed.’ Kyle wasn’t sure how he managed to string that many words together, he was actually pretty proud of it. Alex paused with his hands on Kyle’s belt.

‘Do you really want to complain about that right now?’ He asked with a single raised eyebrow.

‘Nope. No. I really don’t.’ Kyle backed the fuck out of there because he really didn’t want Alex to stop. He shouldn’t have opened his mouth in the first place, unless it was to say please and thank you.

Alex undid his belt with nimble fingers. Shit, those hands. Alex tugged and Kyle lifted his hips to help him along. Kyle shimmied further onto the bed, as Alex tossed his jeans over his shoulder. Alex’s spine was bend in a way that looked uncomfortable and he didn’t want that.

‘Do you wanna take off your leg?’ Kyle asked. It wasn’t even the strangest thing he’d ever said in the middle of sex, but it was up there. Alex kind of blinked at him for a second, all tempting grace disappeared from him for a second. ‘If it’s more comfortable for you.’ Kyle added, unsure of how his offer would be received. After a few seconds of unreadable silence Alex softened again.

‘Yeah, okay.’ Alex twisted so that he was sitting properly on the edge of the bed again. Kyle felt a little exposed in just his boxers, especially under Alex’s heavy gaze, but he soldiered on.

‘Can I help?’ He asked when Alex reached for the button of his own jeans. ‘I was kind of looking forward to undressing you.’ Alex looked at him for another hard second. He understood this was kind of a big deal, so he waited and gave him a second.

‘Okay.’ Alex said again. He actually pushed himself to his feet and Kyle moved closer, wobbling across the bed on his knees. It was pretty unfair. Alex wasn’t wearing a belt and the jeans, soft washed, pale blue ones, hung low on his hips.

Kyle licked his lips involuntarily as he reached out and popped the button of Alex’s jeans. Alex fingers flexed at his sides and Kyle looked at him to check if he was clear to continue. Alex bit down on his bottom lip but nodded.

When he slid the jeans off Alex’s toned thighs, he moved to sit down, so Kyle hurried off the bed and knelt in front of Alex so he could get his jeans of further. He slid it off Alex’s good leg, and then his prosthetic. It was not so strange. It was pretty cool actually. He dropped Alex’s jeans and reached out.

A hand snapping forward and clenching around his wrist stopped him. He looked up at Alex, he looked stoic, but Kyle could read the nerves in his hunched shoulders. He smiled reassuringly. He put the hand not being held by Alex on his thigh. Alex slowly released his other hand.

It wasn’t hard to figure out how to get the prosthetic off, Kyle had gone to med school after all, he wasn’t a complete idiot. He didn’t want to linger on Alex’s stump for too long, but he also didn’t want to make it seem like he didn’t accept this as a part of Alex.

It was a reminder of how close Kyle had gotten to losing him. He could have lost him without ever having gotten the opportunity to reconnect. He could have just heard the news in passing. “Oh yeah, the youngest Manes kid? He didn’t make it. Funeral is in a week.” He could have lost Alex’s smile forever.

He must have shown some of those emotions on his face because Alex ran a hand through Kyle’s hair and said:

‘I’m okay.’ Kyle leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Alex’s thigh. Alex tugged him back to his feet and back onto the bed. He pushed Kyle down on his back and he kissed him. A softer kiss this time, reassuring, like he was saying “hey, I’m here, I’m fine”. Kyle couldn’t help but surge up, pulling Alex closer to him, kissing him deeper. He settled his hand over Alex’s heart, letting the slightly sped up, thump-thump seep into his bones. Alex groaned somewhere low in his throat and Kyle felt the arousal come surging back to the front of his mind.

Alex was pretty much laying on top of him now, Kyle didn’t mind in the slightest. He liked the weight and the warmth of him so close. He slid his hand along Alex’s jaw and tilted his head so he could kiss along the sharp line and down his throat. He didn’t have a talk with Alex’s ex to find out what he liked, so he had to figure it out himself.

‘Good?’ He asked, lips brushing against the skin of Alex’s neck.

‘Yeah, yeah, just don’t grab me there.’ It wasn’t something Kyle had been planning on doing anyways, the idea of controlling Alex like that wasn’t something he liked, but the request still made him feel a little cold.

‘Of course not.’ Kyle agreed easily. He spend the next few minutes turning Alex into a squirming mess as he sucked a bruise into the skin low on Alex’s neck.

‘Kyle, Jesus fucking Christ.’ Alex whined, his hand tugging weakly at Kyle’s hair. Kyle found himself smiling happily and looking at the purple-ish mark on Alex’s skin. ‘Don’t look so fucking proud of yourself, asshole.’ Alex said, but he was laughing, so Kyle didn’t take him too seriously.

Alex took charge again after that. It was almost like he wanted to take revenge. Kyle had turned him into a whining mess, now Alex was going to do the same to him. Kyle couldn’t have cared less. All he could think about was Alex’s lips and tongue working their way down his chest, like he’d done before. His fingers trailing over Kyle’s chest and abs and dipping into his boxers. Kyle’s breath hitched as Alex wrapped his hand around his dick and started jerking him off slowly and with intent. He looked up at Kyle through his lashes and he let his head fall back with a long groan.

‘Goddammit Alex.’ Alex made an innocent, questioning noise, while doing a thing with his wrist that had Kyle’s toes curl. ‘Fuck me.’ He breathed out.

‘Maybe some other time.’ Alex replied smoothly.

As it turned out, Alex was kind of like Kyle’s kryptonite. He seemed to know exactly which buttons to push to turn Kyle into a mess. He licked a long stripe up the underside of Kyle’s cock and swallowed him down quick and a little messy. He could barely think straight (hah), but somewhere the thought crossed his mind that he really hoped his conversation with Liz hadn’t gone into this much detail. Kyle found himself scrambling for something to hold onto, hands clutching at the sheets and sort of petting over Alex’s head. He wanted to look at Alex, but he also knew that would probably push him over the edge, so he didn’t. Not yet.

‘You can hold onto my hair, you know.’ Alex said, voice slightly rough after he pulled off with an obscene pop.

‘I swear you’re trying to kill me.’ Kyle said, but he tangled the fingers of his right hand in Alex’s hair, he didn’t push or pull, he just sort of let it rest there.

‘I could kill you in at least seven different ways, none of them involve my mouth.’ That shouldn’t have made him laugh, not when Alex ducked his head down again and Kyle could feel the familiar tightening in his stomach from his building orgasm. He still couldn’t help but let out an incredulous sort of chuckle.

It really didn’t take him much longer before he found himself tugging at Alex’s hair weakly. He felt too tense and too loose at the same time.

‘Alex, I’m gonna-‘ Alex, the little shit, _hummed_ and the words died in Kyle’s mouth as his orgasm barrelled into him like a line-backer. Shit. It had been a while since someone brought out his football metaphors. He laid there for a bit, breathing through the waves of pleasure. He wanted to move, return the favour, but his limbs felt like jello. ‘I think you’ve broken me.’ Kyle managed to find Alex’s wrist after patting around the bed for a few seconds and he pulled him down next to him. He licked his own hand, a little gross, but he didn’t want to move.

He didn’t waste much time batting Alex’s hand out of the way and taking his dick in his hand. He’d blow him later, because there’d be a later. That made Kyle feel warm inside. Alex’s breathing stuttered.

Kyle used every single trick his hazy brain could remember and by the way Alex’s hand clenched around his bicep, he was doing a good job. It didn’t take all that long for Alex’s hand to tighten to the point where it was almost painful.

‘K-‘ Alex didn’t have to say more. Kyle twisted his wrist on the upstroke and Alex came with a soft sort of _oh_ sound that Kyle wanted to burn into his skin.

Kyle wasn’t about to get up, so he wiped his hand on the sheets. Alex let out a disapproving sound, but the sheets had been changed yesterday while they were out, so he figured the same would happen today.

‘The shower is big enough for the both of us.’ Kyle said into the comfortable silence. Alex huffed out a laugh.

‘Showering is tricky enough on my own with one leg, now you wanna have shower sex? That’s a concussion waiting to happen.’ Kyle decided he didn’t like it when Alex was so logical. How could he even be logical right now? Kyle still felt like half of his brain was up in the clouds somewhere.

He told Alex as much. Alex laughed and rolled over on his side to pat Kyle’s cheek.

‘Poor baby.’ Alex rolled away just as quickly and Kyle barely managed to squash the disappointed noise trying to worm its way from his throat. ‘Come on. I wanna go see if we can kick anyone’s ass on the tennis court.’

‘You think we’ll be able to beat any of these people at tennis?’ Kyle asked incredulously as he pushed himself up on his elbows, watching Alex as he picked up a clean pair of boxers from his bag and slipped into them. It was a little disappointing, losing his great view of Alex’s spectacular ass, but he’d have to live with it.

‘Uh, yeah?’ Alex said.

‘These are the kind of people that play tennis every week. We’ll get our ass kicked.’ Alex rolled his eyes and grabbed for his crutches.

‘You underestimate the power of pure determination.’ Alex turned, Kyle’s eyes dragging down over his body on autopilot. ‘I’ve only got one leg, they’ll go easy on me and we’ll wipe the floor with them.’ Alex said, the competitive edge to his voice was clear and Kyle shrugged.

‘Alright, fine, but only for an hour. I was planning on hitting the gym today.’ Kyle caved, he’d actually planned on going to the gym before breakfast, but then feelings got in the way. Feelings and important conversations and orgasms. Which was totally fine, he’d choose this over the gym any day.

‘Afraid you’ll tire yourself out on the court?’ Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘I gotta save some energy for later.’

‘What’s happening later?’ Alex asked, tilting his head.

‘Round two.’ Kyle smirked and Alex sighed, rolled his eyes and hid a smile (badly).

They got dressed, again, and Kyle figured out he had very little self-control when it came to touching Alex. Now that he was allowed to, he couldn’t seem to stop. A hand on his hip, his fingers past one of those adorable round cheeks, a hand on his leg. Alex was just so….there. So present. So constantly the only thing Kyle seemed to be able to pay attention to.

How anyone ever managed to look away from him was a mystery.

They did surprisingly well at tennis. Kyle was a natural athlete, even if he said so himself, and Alex had a talent for hitting things very hard, apparently. He didn’t have much control over where the ball went, and it lead to Kyle doubled over from laughter more than once, but they had fun. They even won once. They played a mini match against Nico and his wife and got their asses kicked, but he didn’t mind losing to Nico all that much. Alex however, was pouty as fuck.

‘I don’t like losing.’ Alex said as he flopped own on a chair in the big hall where lunch was served. Steph, who had somehow managed to find them again, grinned.

‘Competitive, are we?’ Alex glared at her and mumbled something under his breath. Kyle couldn’t help the fond smile that spread over his face. It was really cute to see Alex like this, Alex never really let himself be like this, be silly and not perfectly polite in public. Kyle reached over to squeeze his shoulder (and maybe brush his fingers over the bruise on Alex’s neck). Alex looked over at him, the frown still in place, but much less convincing.

‘It’s okay babe. We’ll get them next time.’ Kyle bit his lip, and brushed his thumb over the crease between Alex’s eyebrows.

‘No we won’t.’ Alex sighed, but he relaxed a little. ‘We’ll just have to play some other sport, something _we’re_ good at.’ Alex shrugged, leaning forward to pick up the coffee that had been delivered for him.

They bickered about this for a while. It was really just a back and forth about increasingly ridiculous sports they could try out. It was a good reminder that Alex was smart as a whip and perfectly capable of out-talking Kyle.

‘Oh hey, I had a question.’ Steph said, leaning forward as they took a break between their bickering. ‘You’re good with computers, right?’ She was clearly talking to Alex, who nodded.

‘Yeah, pretty good.’

‘Awesome, because, I’ve been working on this research paper, and this morning, it somehow deleted the whole file and now I can’t find it anymore.’ Steph looked slightly devastated. ‘Could you see if you can find it? Otherwise I’ll just have to find a quiet place to cry for a bit and then rewrite the whole thing.’ Alex let out a soft laugh.

‘I can try. I’ve got a few tricks that might work.’ Alex agreed easily and Steph pulled a laptop from the bag next to her seat. Kyle wasn’t entirely surprised, she’d clearly been planning this all along. He was just glad she’d allowed Alex to have lunch before roping him into helping her out.

It took Alex ten minutes.

‘I could kiss you!’ She said, squeezing Alex’s shoulder, who laughed.

‘Please don’t.’ Kyle said with a frown. Steph rolled her eyes.

‘You do it for me.’ Kyle had scooted his chair closer so he could watch Alex work, so he just moved Steph out of the way and pulled Alex in for a kiss. Nothing heated, just a sharp press of lips against Alex’s, but it still made him feel warm. He was allowed to do that now, without overthinking it. Alex huffed out a laugh and pushed Kyle away, but gently, so it was alright.

‘There you go.’ Alex handed the laptop back to Steph. ‘I’d recommend emailing it to yourself as soon as possible and maybe get an external hard drive or something, that laptop is going to crash again.’

‘Alright, thank you Alex.’ Steph said with a warm smile.

‘No problem.’ Alex said with an equally warm smile. Kyle knew he was staring, but he couldn’t find a good enough reason to make himself look away.

‘You’ve got a good one here, Kyle.’ Steph said and Kyle just hummed.

‘I know.’

They spend the next two days being completely, utterly, ridiculous. They stayed in bed way too long, had sex on more surfaces than Kyle cared to admit, ate things that were bad for them and laughed until they cried.

It was almost shocking how easy it was to be with Alex. He knew there had been many, many outside factors involved in the whole mess that was Alex and Guerin’s _thing_ , but he didn’t understand how anyone could ever bear to give this up. Alex was like sunshine, with an edge of something sharper. He was kind, but he didn’t let anyone walk over him. He would struggle to find the right words, but once he did, they would hit Kyle right in the heart. He was patient to the point where he drove Kyle _insane_ , making him want to shake him and yell, but he knew he wasn’t trying to hurt him. It was defence. Like how Liz would bite her lip and throw herself into some science thing he couldn’t understand, how Guerin would smirk and snipe and sneer, how Maria would pour you a drink and pretend to smile and divert your attention away from her, how Cam went quiet and wiped her face of all emotion. Alex waited, he waited for _something_ , Kyle just couldn’t always figure out what it was. So he asked. He asked what Alex wanted, what he needed from him and Alex told him (it took him some time, but he did), and Kyle gave whatever it was to him to the best of his abilities.

He wouldn’t pretend that he wasn’t terrified of going back to Roswell. For five days they’d been living in a nice warm bubble, but now they’d have to go back to the aliens and the conspiracy theories and the murderous family and the resurrected half-sister. Back to Liz and Maria and Guerin. Back to the town that had ripped Alex apart with no care and no one to look out for him. But now he had Kyle.

‘This should be interesting.’ Alex sighed as they parked the car in front of Alex’s cabin. Liz was on the porch, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She looked like she hadn’t been sleeping, or eating, or showering.

They were just here to pick up clean clothes for Alex. Kyle’s mom had told him to come for dinner, and in a wave of confidence, he’d asked Alex to come with him. Alex had stilled and looked at him for a few long seconds with that unreadable expression on his face, but then he’d shrugged and agreed.

They hadn’t expected Liz.

‘Hi Liz.’ Alex said as he hopped from Kyle’s car.

‘Alex. I need your help.’ Liz said, with a slightly confused look as Kyle also jumped from the car. ‘I need some information, files, but I can’t get to them.’

‘Can this wait until tomorrow?’ Alex asked and Liz frowned.

‘Why?’

‘I have plans for tonight and I need to get this airplane smell of me.’ Liz blinked at him.

‘Plans?’ Alex looked at her steadily.

‘Yes, plans. We’re having dinner with Kyle’s mom.’

‘Why? You know you’re back in Roswell now, right? You can give up the fake-dating thing.’

‘It’s not fake.’ Alex said, still outwardly calm, but Kyle could hear the tension in his voice. ‘We’re together now.’ Liz let out a sharp bark of slightly disbelieving laughter.

‘Very funny, Alex.’ Alex raised a single eyebrow at her and just waited. The smile fell off Liz’s face. ‘Wait, seriously?’

‘Yeah.’ Kyle said and Liz’s eyes snapped to him. ‘Seriously.’

‘Oh.’ Liz wrung her hands together, eyes darting between them. ‘Okay, uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to come off so dismissive.’ She swallowed and Kyle could read the ache all over her. It seemed like Alex could too.

‘Don’t worry about it, you’ve got a lot going on.’ Alex said kindly. ‘I’ll text you tomorrow and we’ll see how we can get you those files, alright?’ Her smile was so grateful it made Kyle almost feel guilty that they’d been gone for so long, but they’d needed it.

‘Thank you, Alex. Enjoy your dinner.’ Liz said, squeezing his shoulder. She swallowed tightly the second she turned away from Alex, so only Kyle caught it. She made eye-contact with him and he tried to smile reassuringly.

When Liz’s car pulled away Alex sighed and his shoulders dropped. Kyle walked closer and slid his hands up Alex’s back and over his shoulders, he squeezed the tense muscles there and Alex whined, ducking away from his hands. It made Kyle chuckle a little.

‘Airplanes aren’t good for your relaxation, huh?’ Kyle asked, trying to get a smile out of him. Alex tried to look annoyed but didn’t quite succeed.

‘This fucking town isn’t good for my relaxation.’

‘I’ll just have to give you massages from time to time.’ Kyle said easily, heading up the porch steps towards the door. He could hear Alex’s footsteps follow him.

‘I wouldn’t be opposed to that.’ Alex said and it had Kyle smirk at him over his shoulder. ‘How long do you think it’s going to be before everyone knows about us?’ Kyle narrowed his eyes at him.

‘Is that why you told Liz?’ He asked, grin spreading over his face. ‘You didn’t want to have to tell everyone individually, so you decided to tell Liz, knowing she can’t keep a secret to save her life.’ Kyle found himself laughing. ‘That’s kind of brilliant.’ Alex smiled and rolled his eyes.

‘We both know she can’t keep a secret like this for long. I figured it’d be easier this way.’

‘I like it.’ Kyle said. He wasn’t really willing to keep this secret anyways. He enjoyed being able to casually touch Alex. Kiss him goodbye. He wasn’t willing to give that up.

‘Good.’ Alex said, shrugging off his jacket. ‘I’m going to grab some clothes, we’ll shower at yours, yes?’

‘Oh yeah, I told you, my shower his nice as hell, we can totally share. Save the planet, shower with your hot boyfriend.’ Kyle said with a smirk that made Alex snort out a laugh.

‘I don’t think it helps though when we end up spending more than thirty minutes in there.’

‘It’s not my fault you don’t know how to be quick.’

‘I haven’t heard you complain about me taking my time before.’ Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. Kyle quickly back-tracked.

‘I wasn’t _complaining_ , I was just saying.’ Alex hummed.

‘Uh huh, sure babe.’

Alex grabbed some clothes, and they headed over to Kyle’s apartment. By some miracle, they ended up being on time at his mother’s house, despite Alex distracting him, more than once (and sure maybe Kyle wasn’t exactly one hundred percent innocent either, but whatever). His mom, to her credit, only blinked at Alex for a second before welcoming him inside and grabbing a third plate. Alex was perfectly charming and warm and Kyle knew he kept staring at him, but he couldn’t help it. His mom had turned the lights low and there were candles and the way the warm light flickered over Alex’s face made him look golden. Kyle was so screwed.

By the time they left, after Alex helped his mom load the dishwasher (smirking at Kyle when his mom kept saying how _nice_ it was to have _someone_ help her out), he could tell by his mom’s smile that she was happy for him. She squeezed his hand as Alex headed down the porch steps towards the car.

‘I can’t say I saw this coming, but I see the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him, and I’m happy for you.’

‘I didn’t see this coming either, but I am happy.’ Kyle smiled at her and he squeezed her hand one more time before jogging down the stairs after Alex.

He refused to let Alex go back to the cabin, and Alex pretended to be put out by that, but his hand never left Kyle’s and he pulled him in to a searing kiss the moment the door to Kyle’s apartment fell shut behind them, so he didn’t feel like he actually wanted to leave. He could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're still here, I am impressed! Thank you so much for reading! I'll be back tomorrow for day 3 of the advent! Anything that isn't miniscule will get posted here, the other days (that I have fic for) will be on my Tumblr: daffietjuh.
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight!


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